Parallel
by Tenko
Summary: Post S.7; A follower of The First goes back in time for revenge, and the PTB recruit Katerina, Buffy & Spike’s daughter, to help. Can she help patch the Scoobies’ wounds with her knowledge of the future? B/S, A/X, D/C, W/T, Ang/Cor, Fr/G


**Summary**: Post S.7; A follower of The First goes back in time for revenge, and the PTB recruit Katerina, Buffy & Spike's daughter, to help.  Can she help patch the Scoobies' wounds with her knowledge of the future? B/S, A/X, D/C, W/T, Ang/Cor, Fr/G

**Spoilers**: Anything you've seen on Buffy is fair game.  Note that any events that follow the season 7 storyline (after Bring on the Night) are puuuuure B.S. I've made up.  I know **NOTHING** after Bring On the Night.  I'll mention things from Spike's past, some of that will be taken from the Buffy book _These Our Actors_.

**A/N**: My first Buffy fic, and my (probably unwanted) return to writing.  Crossover with Angel.  And there will be a guest appearance by my favorite character, next to Spike, Drusilla!  Please note that the main couple will be B/S.  I have no beta reader, so it's just me (sadly).  This will probably be a long fic.

**Disclaimer**: I own you, your goldfish, and Akron, Ohio, but I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer in any way.

"Parallel" 

            The Bronze was full that night, as it was every Friday.  The high schoolers and college students needed a break from their studies, and the adults, well, they were just trying to recapture the fading memories of their youth.  And what better a place than The Bronze?  It was still the best club in all of the one-Starbucks-town that was Sunnydale.

            Yet it had changed over the years.  The warehouse club had set up tables of transparent neon in shapes that oddly looked like a French curlz ruler.  Thin metal designs hung suspended by wires from the roof in silver zigzags and loops.  A rainbow of lights danced over the band that played on the small stage in the front, while a mild strobe light pulsed over the excited crowd.  The new furniture was all metal framed with either silver or metallic blue covering the cushions.  Yeah, The Bronze had grown wilder over the years.

            Some things never change, though.  The catwalk was still there, with people lazing about, gazing at the crowd in search of their companions or future prospects.  The Scoobies' favorite couch and table were still in the same places, although they had been replaced over the years of their service.  The stage that Willow used to watch Oz's band play was still there, although Dingoes Ate My Baby fell out, the current band seemed strong and confident, with feminine vocals accents by rapid guitar riffs and an enthused drummer and bassist.  Spike's favorite place at the Bronze, the bar, was still relatively the same, although new drinks and a shiny new color scheme were present.  Everything was different, and yet, all was the same.  Or maybe it was because they went through those years at The Bronze to watch it morph into what it was.

            They still came.  All of the Scoobies did.  The members of Angel Investigations dropped by whenever they were in town (which was much more frequent than in past years).  This place would always remain the official Scooby off-time hangout, their ages be damned.

Buffy was still the slayer, but she rarely went on patrol alone in her much older age.  She would always protest when Spike or someone would insist upon coming.  She'd rattle on about her being the oldest Slayer in all of history, and of all her strength and experience.  Spike would quickly quiet her with his reminder that he had many more years of 'experience' under his belt.  Buffy had matured as well, although her impulsive fire had never been quelled.  She quit her job at the Double Meat Palace long ago and was now the official guidance counselor at Sunnydale High.  After The First had been restrained to his old limits, Buffy had stepped carefully with Spike, and after six years they wed the wedding she had always wanted (indirect sunlight only, much to Spike's dismay).  The invitations read their names as Buffy and Spike, for old time's sake, and as a surprise to her, the first dance was "Wind Beneath My Wings".

Spike had changed.  He went by William again, and had even gotten a normal job as a college history teacher (night courses only, of course).  What better a job for a one hundred something year old vampire?  It had been easy to fake the degrees with Willow's help.  Angel joked with him now about who was really trying to act more human.  William would growl, but he had lost most of his fire with his soul.  His girls were the only things that kept him going sometimes.  

Willow was aging beautifully and was still Buffy's best friend.  She had mourned her Tara for a long while, but had moved on, knowing that Tara would've wanted her to be happy.  Willow dated here and there, but she had never found anyone that could mean as much to her as Tara.  Willow had loved teaching so much that she had gone back to that for a while, but got bored with it after ten years.  She worked in the computer business for a few more years, but eventually managed to score a job as the dean of UC Sunnydale.  One of her favorite hobbies was hacking and practicing more docile magicks.  She also had matured, and had lost her radical tendency with magicks.  

Xander now owned his own construction company.  And, with it being Sunnydale, a lot of buildings happened to, ahem, mysteriously collapse.  They always had something to build in this town.  Xander dated around more than Willow, but like her, he had found no one.  Anya was all that he wanted.  Yet, he couldn't have her and often competed with Angel for the prize of Grand Brooder. 

And poor Anya.  She had perished in one of the countless apocalypses several years after the encounter with The First.  She had died saving Willow from some falling scaffolding.  It was heavy, and metal, and crushed her underneath.  She was buried next to Tara with the greatest of respects.

Finally, there's Giles.  He had married his British lady-friend Olivia.  He often came back to Sunnydale to visit, what he considered, extended family.  Giles rebuilt the Watchers Counsel with the few remaining members he could find alive.  He didn't want to head the counsel, but he kept a close eye on it to ensure that it would train the new Slayers and Slayers in Training properly.  

"Alright everybody," a voice broke the wild dances of the people, "we're gonna play a cover, we are.  It's kinda old, but it's good.  Promise."

The crowd buzzed, waiting to hear what song this band would bring out next.  Sadist Inside, they were called.  No one seemed to notice that the drummer had wicked sharp horns or a long prehensile tail, or even that the bassist and lead guitarist were vampires.  The lead singer herself wasn't quite human.  But the magicks that surrounded the band cloaked them from anyone who felt the need to disturb their gig.  Worked out just nicely for them.

"This song...it's for me Mum and Dad.  They know what it means," she winked out to the crowd, knowing her mother would be watching her intently.  She wasn't sure where her father had gotten to.  Probably the bar. 

The guitar solo started slowly and she sang softly, "_All because of you_."  She waited as the rest of the band joined in, a heavy bass line.  As it calmed again, she began, "_Something's wrong with me, 'cause I can't even feel you now._

_            "Or know that this is real,_

_            "Am I blind to see that there's something there behind your eyes_

_            "And it's bringing me to my knees._

William sat at the bar, a glass of scotch held lazily in his hand as he listened to the singer's voice.  He smiled slightly, and ran an ashen hand through his curly locks.  His smile turned into a frown when he realized that the locks had turned back to their golden brown.  He scoffed, Angel was right, he was playing human.  Coming upon this epiphany he downed the rest of his glass in a long gulp and ordered another.

            "Drinking your sorrows away again?" a deep voice disturbed him.  British.  William sighed and faced the man who had spoken.

            "Just lightening my nerves, mate."

            "Right.  You know what Buffy thinks of your drinking these days," Rupert Giles spoke idly.  "I can't even imagine how she would be pleased with this, this childish display."  He turned toward the stage, gazing at the singer over the bobbing heads of the crowd.  "I doubt she'd like it very much either."

            William laughed humorlessly, "I dunno, Rupert, she misses the old me.  Bloody hell...I've become the same poncy bugger I used to be."

            Giles shook his head and sat wearily on the stool next to Sp—William.  "You provide for your family, and kill the things that threaten them.  I don't see how that makes you a bloody ponce."

            _"All I want is you and I don't care,_

_            "All I want is you and I don't care,_

_            "'Cause all I do is wait in, wondering and hoping, that we'll survive it._

_            "I know that all this is true,_

            "She's beautiful," William noted, ignoring Giles comment.  He was gazing at his daughter.  His miracle.  She's a bloody prophecy, but what else was new?  His Bit was The Key.  Not that she was so much of a Lil' Bit anymore.  She's been off enjoying her honeymoon to Angel's brat.  How the hell he ended up being related to Peaches a second way was beyond him.  

            Giles nodded.  "Just like her mother."

            "Right about that one, Rupert," the vampire finished with a smile, listening to the ice in his drink clink together as he swirled the glass languidly.  Thinking of his girls always made the depression of his acts fade into a dull murmur.  Buggering voices.  Couldn't they go off and bother some other vamp and give him some rest?  'Course not.  Bloody soul.  He sighed dejectedly.

            "You're brooding," Giles noted, slight amusement in his voice.

            "I am not.  I'm feeling honest is all," the formerly bleached vamp defended.

            "Right then," the Watcher conceded.  "Where is your dashing wife anyway?  I fancy a word with her."

            The vamp replied with his old smirk, "She's with Red and Harris.  Guess the bird finally had a date."

            _"All because of you,_

_            "Something's wrong with you,_

_            "The walls you build around you now,_

_            "Seem to fit you like a glove._

"Was she cute?" Buffy asked excitedly, suddenly feeling like she was here with them back when they were still in high school.  

            Willow squealed, much like a schoolgirl herself, "Very.  Not-not like Tara..."

            "Will, remember, no Tara-compariness.  It's starting to give me the wiggins," Buffy chuckled.  It was then that Xander returned with their drinks.

            "Compariness?  There was compariness, and I missed it?" he joked in his casual manner, passing out the cups.  He looked toward the stage, smiling at his adopted niece.  Buffy followed his gaze and found herself smiling, too.  She should have let herself be happy a long time ago, it made being the Slayer so much more fun.

            "She's never gonna let you get over your and William's rocky times, huh?"  Willow chortled at the lyrics. 

            The Slayer rolled her eyes.  "No, she won't.  But that's alright, it keeps us sharp."

            "I still can't believe you married Spike..." Xander grumbled, feeling that old tinge of jealousy bubble up.  He shoved it down—you'd think after so many years he'd be over it.

            "Come on, Xand, I thought you were over the whole marrying-a-vampire thing," Buffy sighed, tired of this conversation.

            He shrugged.  "So I thought it was fling, but you got all daughter-having—which by the way isn't supposed to happen."

            The Wiccan smiled.  "Seems like everyone we know has to have a prophecy in the family.  Dawnie, Conner, Katerina..."

            "Yeah," Xander added good-naturedly, "Maybe instead of being a demon—so tired of the that—I'll get a girlfriend that's the second-coming or, or the prophesized Superman."  The girls looked at him incredulously.  

            "What?  It could happen." 

_            "Something's wrong with you,_

_            "'Cause stars cannot be found in clouds,_

_            "That cover up their love,_

_            "'Cause all I do is wait in, wondering and hoping, that we'll survive it._

_            "I know that all this is true..._

"_All because of you_," Katerina finished as the crowed cheered on the band.  She loved playing gigs here, the crowd was always so keyed in to the music.  It was a kick to her system.  Before she knew it, she was grinning, her adrenaline pumping, drawing out her excitement...Silly crowd always did that to her.  "Alright everyone, that was our last song for the evenin'.  Hope to play here again.  'Member, we're Sadist Inside, so, yeah...night all."

            The half demon turned toward her band and grinned.  "That was fun."

            Greg, the guitarist vamp, rolled his yellow eyes. "Yer an insane one, ain't ya?"

            "Well, my dad's sire's as bloody insane as they get," she mumbled, helping their drummer pack up his drum set.  Some recording of a new chart-topper had begun playing.  Peter, the only human in the group, groaned as if in pain.

            "Hip-hop is an abomination.  Damn government conspiracy is what it is!" he fumed, as he walked off the stage with his guitar.

            "You think everything is a government conspiracy," the drummer, Darmin, replied.  

            Katerina jumped suddenly, knocking the mic over with a loud crash on the stage.  She winced; at least it was turned off. "Bloody hell, Dar!  Watch those horns!  I'd rather like to not get staked tonight!" she growled in a huff, storming off stage into the sea of preoccupied people.

            "Well," James, the bassist, began, "at least she didn't turn evil again."  A sudden slap to the back of his head startled him.  

"Ow!  What'd I do?" he whimpered as he rubbed the sore spot on his poor head.

Greg shook his head.  "If you haven't noticed, you're a VAMPIRE.  You are evil!  Remember that, kid."

"You must be fooling with me," Darmin laughed.  "The only reason the Slayer or her soulled up mate haven't killed you is _because_ you're not evil.  Remember, no killing, no dusting.  You're...you're as evil as William the Bloody!"

            The green haired vampire crossed his arms.  "I still don't like that deal."

            "Well, I'd get over it.  I don't want to have to find another lead guitarist," Peter grumbled as he came back to fetch a piece of drum.  "Is that damn girl going to help us pack up?"

            Darmin sighed.  "Does she ever?"

            They all nodded.  They were on their own.  Again.

            "Stupid guys in the stupid band doing stupid things..." Katerina mumbled to herself as she plopped down on the couch next to her Mum.  

            Xander laughed.  "I told you hanging out with demons would put you in a bad mood."

            She looked up at him from under long, dark lashes.  "Does that mean, Uncle Xander, that I put you in a bad mood?" Her voice was sweet, and deceptively innocent.

            "N-no,  'course not, I just meant...vampires, er, demons of the demon variety just, they, well, they seem to, you know do, do things and...I'll shut up now."

            Willow nodded with a slight smile.  Buffy just rolled her eyes and looked over at her daughter. 

            "That was a great show."  She smiled with Joyce's motherly pride.  "You sing as well as your father."

            Katerina brightened instantly.  She had heard her mother gushing about the song he had once sung to her in his old crypt (that now belonged to Uncle Clem).

            The brunette's head shook as he spoke, "Spike singing.  Never get used to that thought."

            "Believe it, Whelp," a Cockney accent made him jump.  "I'm a right good singer."

            "Of course you are, Daddy," the demi-demon giggled.  William smiled at his only child.  The child he still couldn't believe he'd fathered. 

            William shrugged on his imitation leather coat.  "You were great, pet," he said with a smile.  Turning his gaze toward his beautiful wife, he spoke softly,  "There's some ruckus in the alley, luv.  A vamp was taking a coupla birds out back for a light snack."

            The blonde Slayer sighed.  "Of course.  I'm getting seriously tired of people ruining my nights off!"  She wearily detached herself from her seat and began to struggle through the thickening crowd toward the back exit.  

            "Wait!"  Katerina called.  "Can I come?"

            Her mother frowned.  "Katerina," the classic mother-knows-best tone came, "you know what we agreed upon."

            She frowned and with a sigh said, "I know, I bloody well know.  I can only go slaying three times a week, and tonight's not my friggin' night."

            "Don't be mad, ducks.  You can always go talked to ol' Rupert over 'here by the bar."  Her father smiled tentatively.

            "He came to talk to me, didn't he?"  Buffy questioned.  William nodded silently.  "Urgh...well, better go make with the dusty.  Come on." 

            And off they went.  And back Willow and Xander went to talking about Willow's date.  And Katerina was all alone. 

            "Oh, please," she muttered, while pulling herself from the couch whilst slipping into her black duster.  Spike's duster, actually.  _William_ would never wear this duster again.  He'd changed so much since she was little.  She missed her badass Pop that would make sure all the bullies left her alone, rather than make fun of her for her tomboyish nature.  The demi shook her head, and started to squirm through the crowd, but...something...was off.  There was no crowd to butt through.

            She looked up from the floor.  Everything was shifting.  The people were slowly being replaced with demons, or rotting flesh, or some other horror straight from her nightmares.

            "Oh God," she moaned as her senses were hit full on with the smell.  It was putrid and rich, exciting and repulsing her conflicting sides.  The vampire in her longed for a taste of one of the dying humans that bled from too many wounds.  Her leather encased hand flew to her mouth.  

            She spun around.  Willow and Xander were standing now, looking confused and horrified, but after a moment the air seemed to rippled with a pale blue and they were no more.  Tears filled her eyes when she saw the last of the crowd, along with Giles, disappear in that same manner.  A familiar table here and there remained, but the most horrid scene took prominence. 

            The floor was lined with dirt, and blood, and slime, and Hecate knows what!  Demons of varying sizes lounged about, the smell of urine and other wastes assaulted her, making her head spin.  Some of the demons were feasting on what she could barely describe as human.  Their faces were rotting off, and their limbs were mostly missing.  Katerina turned at the sound of a whimper.  A young man was on the ground, five vampires feeding from his flesh.  What sickened her was not the sight, but the large part of her that wanted, in that instance, to join them in dining on fresh blood.  She could smell his fear.  It was poignant and sweet, making her mouth water.  The demi-vamp struggled to keep her human visage in place.  Quickly, she turned from the scene.  There was a throne on the beaten stage, and crimson dripped from the catwalk as a dead, emaciated dog fell from it.  She could distinguish another smell; alcohol.  Glancing about, she could see half-empty bottles covering almost every foot of the floor.  The only light came from torches that sat in sconces all over the walls.  The firelight played upon the bodies in a most grotesque way, that even the vampire in her was losing interest.

            Why hadn't they noticed her?  And why was she the only one still here?  Sure, she'd only been there maybe ten, twenty seconds, but surely they'd notice the scent of human blood...

            'Dammit, Katerina, you jinx your bloody self every time,' she thought as a large, burly vampire glared up at her with yellow eyes, and a red-ringed mouth.  "Who goes there?"

            She gulped, and took an involuntary step back, screaming when she found her leather boot upon the graying flesh of a human hand.  The other demons seemed unconcerned, but the vampires laughed.

            "It wasss a foolissshhh thing for you to come herrre, chillld," a skinny vamp slithered it's head through the air with it's speech, oddly reminding Katerina of that boa constrictor she'd always wanted...

            "I...I'm, uh, just, uh, passing by is all," she stuttered nervously.  She was beginning to feel light headed, and a white haze was starting to surround her vision.  Had to be the smell.  

            "I think you lie to us, girl," the first blood drinker spoke with venom on his tongue.  Meanwhile, Katerina couldn't quite keep herself balanced, her dizzy spell worsening every second, and she could hardly see anymore.  Vaguely, she could see Snakeboy rushing at her with claws extended, but after that...everything exploded into white.

            Wildflowers on a summer breeze...birds tittering from safely in their trees...the rustle of the windblown grasses...scratching at the ground, mice searched for a seed to quell their hunger...and a light jasmine perfume...

            She opened her hazel eyes slowly, hissing softly at the sunlight that should surely be burning her pale flesh.  Putting a hand to her forehead, she waited a moment for the fog to clear before she dared to look around.  Running the same hand through her dyed raven locks she stood on shaking legs.  Sighing, the former blonde looked around at her surroundings.

            A meadow.  She was on the top of a hill.  Looking down she saw a beautiful river where deer tentatively sipped at its crystalline waters, their tails flickering nervously, always wary of attack.  She looked toward the right.  Across the meadow, there was a thick line of verdant conifers.  In the mid afternoon sun, they seemed to glow a bit in an almost holy looking light.  A timid smile crept onto her face.  

            Katerina had no clue where the bloody hell she was, but...it felt safe, and warm.  She liked it here.  Could she be dead?  

            "You're not," a soft voice from behind spoke.  Kat jumped and spun around, angry that she hadn't felt the presence of the lady before her.  "We saved you from never existing."

            "You're daft, Lady," she huffed defiantly.  On a second glance, her harsh gaze faltered, replaced by a curious gaze.  She'd...seen her before.  

            The apparently insane woman wore a yellow sundress that was dotted with sunflowers.  A soft breeze blew her dark blonde curls into her face, and she smiled a warm, motherly...The girl's eyes widened impossibly large until she appeared a doe caught in a car's headlights.

            "That's right," she said softly, kindly.  She radiated warmth and beauty and love.  Katerina knew this woman.  Her mother talked of her constantly.  

            "Y-you're...grandma.  Joyce, my grandmother Joyce!"  Her words came out in a stammered sentence, and she suddenly felt like the fool.

            Joyce nodded.  "And I'm here to help you, Katerina."

:3)~~~~~~~~~~(8: :3)~~~~~~~~~~(8: :3)~~~~~~~~~~(8: :3)~~~~~~~~~~(8:

A/N: Please let me know what you think.  I'm pretty sure it's obvious Katerina embraces her father's favorite saying ("bloody hell").  The song was Saliva's "All Because of You" off of their new album.  


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